Must Be The Hormones
by Musical Astronomy
Summary: The Magic School Bus kids have grown up and made it into the dog eat dog world of high school. Friendships and attitudes change once hormones become involved.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Magic School Bus or any of its characters! Though if I did, there would be a Magic School Bus: High School edition with the same awesome characters!

**Summary: **The Magic School Bus kids have grown up and made it into the dog eat dog world of high school. Friendships and attitudes change once hormones become involved.

**Pairings: **Of course I have my personal favorites, which will become more and more apparent as the story unfolds. I will try not to make it too obvious from the get go. That way I can draw you guys in before you guys are like "Nuh! I don't like that pairing!" and it adds suspense.

**Warnings: **There may be teenage pregnancy; I am not sure whom yet. There may be other teenage issues like sex, drugs, and partying. I don't think I will get in too much depth with angst such as rape and what not. I just don't have the heart for it, but who knows!

0000

The school year was beginning with a limited amount of stress for the population of Wakerville High, other than the fact that the dreaded school year had begun and ruined the ever-pleasant joys of summer. However, that was only to be expected as everyone knows that all good things must come to an end, and summer vacation was always ever present on the list of good things to end.

The time of empty school halls was over as more and more of the upcoming year's students flooded throughout the door and dispersed into groups that had been established Freshman year or even before that, and Arnold Matthew Perlstein was not far from that analogy as he walked through the crowded halls of Wakerville High to find his locker from last year. The teen must have been moving a little too slow for some of his classmates considering the fact that half way through the crowd he was practically run over as his glasses flew from his face.

"Oh no, damn it, my glasses," The Jewish young man exclaimed as he fell down to the hard linoleum floor and began to feel around its cool surface in search of his glasses. Angering a few of the patrons who happened to stumble over his wandering form.

"Hey, watch it buddy!"

"Sorry."

"Get off the floor!"

"I apologize."

"Ugh! Must be another freshman weirdo."

"No, close, but it is just Arnold Perlstein," A familiar voice said as Arnold knocked his noggin smack dab into a set of jean clad legs.

The young man yelped in shock before a groan of pain followed as his hand sat unceremoniously atop his mop of red wavy hair.

"Really Arnold, you are just determined to make your name and the word weirdo synonymous by the end of your high school career," Said the voice again as Arnold looked up into bleary chocolate orbs before the blurred figure before him slipped his glasses on him to reveal to him the eyes of his boisterous friend, Wanda Li.

There she stood in all her glory with her hair cut sharply into a bob with red streaks running vicariously throughout her bangs, which were whip lashed to the right. She was still by far the shortest amongst their group since she stood at a mere five foot two, but that did little to delay her maturing process.

Wanda had; frankly, grown boobs that were being pushed adamantly up and out in her bright red tank top that stopped just a bit above her toned pale tummy. Her jeans, which were slightly ripped hung carelessly across her waist, and the two brown belts slung across her waist half hazard, one horizontal and one slanted, were more for the appeal then for actual use. Her look of cool skater chick was topped off characteristically with black converse and her black and white checkered backpack that was slung across her shoulder lazily.

Anyone who didn't know the tiny Asian teen woolly say she was calm, cool, collected, and down to Earth, but Arnold, who had known her since third grade, knew it was just her yearly reinvention of her look that almost never matched her wild personality. The look was just way too casually deceiving for Arnold to buy into, and the smirk firmly placed on pouty pale pink lips only added to the young man's look of suspiciousness.

"Whatever Wanda," Arnold said through gritted teeth as he pushed himself off the cold hard floor to transition from looking up at slanted chocolate orbs to glaring down at them heatedly to the amusement of his friend.

"Oooo, someone has gotten feisty. Looks like someone has gotten a little confidence since ditching the jewfro!" Wanda said before she started howling with laughter. Attracting the attention of several people around them unintentionally even though she could care less. Though, Arnold was another case as he grabbed the short Asian by the crook of her arm and began to drag her in the midst of her laughter down the hall and towards their lockers. His cheeks stained a bright red as he tried to shush her in the process. Only succeeding in being ignored.

"Wanda. Wanda! Wanda, stop laughing because I don't even understand what that is supposed to mean," Arnold said in a hushed whisper that only earned him and her more weird looks as his cheeks darkened in color.

The young girl, having heard everything her buddy said, only slightly lightened her chuckles as she let her eyes focus on her friend only to determine if he was truly clueless or playing the lovable gullible, and what she saw caused a small relief of soberness to her mood.

Arnold, in all his naive honesty, truthfully did not know what she meant in reference to his looks. He still considered himself the small meek frizzy headed boy who sat cautiously and fully aware in Miss Frizzle's third grade class when in all honesty he had made a giant stride from that young frightened boy.

It had started in middle school with his growth spurt, and it had increased every year for the past few years. In sixth grade, it had been the growth spurt. In seventh, the deepening of his voice and an increase in muscle mass. In eighth, he had new glasses. In ninth, he stood up to his middle school bully, who was also good-natured Carlos, but no one really elaborated on the fact since they would rather let Arnold have the achievement. But, digressing, now in tenth, the jewfro had disappeared.

Arnold was changing little by little every year, and no one except Wanda had seemed to take any notice. To them, he was and would remain just plan old Arnold so far into the fact that now not even the red head could recognize the change within him. It took Wanda's charm year by year for the young man to even notice he had grown taller, leaner, stronger, and even cooler. He was steadily growing in front of all of their faces, and Wanda was getting scared because he had all too soon grown into someone the petite Asian could love, and if she wasn't careful, he would soon grow into someone that _she _could love.

"If you are referring to my new haircut, my mom has been trying to get me to get one since the beginning of sixth grade, and you know I figured...I figured that since everyone else was changing and growing up, I might as well do it too." Arnold said as he looked down.

He honestly didn't see any change in the way he looked. He was only wearing loose boot cut jeans, a white t-shirt, a yellow plaid button down shirt, and a pair of red sneakers he had grabbed on his way out the door. The only thing in his mind that had truly changed about him was his shorter, sleeker hair cut that was cut closer to his head at the back and that was still slightly unruly upfront, from hair gel his mom made him wear, and the fact his frizzy hair was now replaced with wavy silky red locks. Other than that, he was still plain old Arnold.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever hot stuff! We both know that the only reason you even thought about growing up in the least was in order for you to be able to impress Miss Phoebe Terese," Wanda said jokingly as she removed herself from Arnold's grip when they reached her locker.

"Phoebe? Where!" Arnold asked as he looked around expectantly for his auburn haired crush. Either missing or completely ignoring the hurt look that graced Wanda's face.

"Calm down lover boy! She's probably on the other side of the school, you know, where her locker actually is, and if you hurry up, we might actually make it to homeroom to actually see her," Wanda said a little more harshly than necessary, but Arnold barely noticed as he grabbed up Wanda's arm again to pull her along to their homeroom.

A few years ago, that would have seemed a little forward of someone as meek as Arnold, but after him and Wanda had become such good friends, it was only natural that a little of her would rub off on him.

"And while we are talking about new looks and everything, what's up with that?" Arnold said as he made reference to the small gem that was gleaming in the center of Wanda's small belly button. Wanda only smirked again as she unlatched her arm from Arnold's grip to speed pass him slightly in a small saunter.

"Awww nothing, its just the first addition to more to come! I was thinking about a tongue or nose ring next. After that, who knows, maybe a nipple ring,...or two. What do you think lover boy?" Wanda asked mischievously as she looked back to see Arnold's face scrunched up in a grimace. His mouth was working in the process of telling Wanda off, but nothing came out.

The young teen girl stopped walking since her friend couldn't seem to process what he had just heard and think at the same time, and she just watched him struggle in amusement before she began to crack up laughing again.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, now, what's so funny? I want to laugh too!" Came the smooth accented voice of a one Carlos Ramon, with his girlfriend and best friend, Dorothy Ann Pawlinski walking not too far behind as they caught up with their other two friends.

Carlos being the resident 'comedian' of the group could only be all to interested in hearing any kind of joke, rather it be corny or not, in order to create some sort of lame pun of it. It had been his running gag for years, and no matter how many times his friends told him that they truly were very annoyed by his epic lameness, he would continuously make the corniest puns to ever be heard on Earth.

"Go ahead, tell them Wanda! Tell them how you want to defile your body with all sorts of weird piercings,"Arnold said as Dorothy Ann looked on slightly confused and Carlos looked a little too interested.

"Oh, really now, tell me Wanda, is that the truth? Or are you just GOUGING for our reactions?" Carlos said rather obnoxiously before he fell into a fit of laughter while Dorothy Ann just stood there shaking her head in shame and Arnold just stood there with a look of utter disgust. Wanda seemed like she was the person other than Carlos who thought the joke was amusing as she too fell into a fit of giggles herself.

"Really Carlos? That joke was completely ridiculous. Even by your standards," Dorothy Ann said snootily with her nose in the air before she turned and began to walk off towards their homeroom. Carlos's laugh seemed to stop almost immediately before he took of in order to follow his girlfriend.

"Awww! Come on, D.A.! I'm sorry! I thought that was a good one," Carlos shouted towards her disappearing back as Arnold and Wanda looked at each other with smirks etched on to their lips. It seems like the only thing that had changed with those two were their looks.

Carlos still had his tanned caramel skin, boyish good looks, and happy-go-lucky personality, but other than that, he too had changed. Arnold had grown to a pretty good height of five foot ten, but Carlos had passed that at a nice six foot one while also gaining a nice bit of muscle from being on the soccer and baseball teams.

His hair was still the color of a Raven's wing, but now instead of its neat looking softness, Carlos had spent half of middle school and the beginning of high school constructing his hair into looking smooth yet slightly unruly and spiked at the back before spiking out slightly across his forehead and every which way but upward before falling lightly into his chocolate brown eyes. The whole gang was sure that the pronounced Chico guapo/Rico Suave of Wakerville High had used over two gallons of hair spray and gel each morning to get his hair to glisten and stay in place the way it did.

Arnold even considered getting some hair styling lessons from the boy since this was his first year having to even deal with that sort of thing, but he wasn't so sure if he was willing to ask Carlos for clothing advice.

Since he was introduced to the skater scene in middle school, Carlos had taken a liking to colored straight leg or skinny jeans. Thank goodness Carlos had the nerve to never wear his jeans too tight or Ralphie would probably disown him, but despite that, Arnold didn't think he would have the nerve to ever wear what the boy was wearing now.

Carlos had on some black and navy blue Nike air force ones, bright red skinny jeans, a navy blue hoodie, and a long sleeved gray undershirt. In all honesty, nothing had really changed about the Hispanic boys style except that now people were more aware of his more colorful choice of clothing.

"You know, I never pictured those two getting together in a thousand years. I mean, it was kind of obvious that they liked each other in elementary and middle school, but it was still a bit of a shock to me when they ended up getting together last year," Wanda said in thought before she and Arnold began following the two in to their first period class.

"Yeah, whatever, Wanda, you are still not off the hook about your piercing," Arnold said matter of factly as he finally caught up to Wanda.

"I never doubted it for a second Perlstein."

0000

"Phoebe, are you even listening to me?" Keesha Franklin asked exasperatedly as she waved her hand in front of Phoebe's absentminded face before placing her left hand on her hip. Shocking said brunette out of her stupor.

"Uh, huh, what were you saying again?" Phoebe asked in her airy soft voice as she tried to shake off her daydream.

"Ugh, see, I knew that you weren't listening to a word I said!" Keesha said as her temper flared slightly before she closed the door to her locker and turned around to walk away and leave her best friend.

"Oh, Keesha, I'm sorry, I really am! I just...I just got a little side tracked for a second. I promise I am ready to listen now! I won't interrupt or anything, so please tell me, please," Phoebe begged in her sweet soft voice and even though Keesha longed to be mad at her as soon as she saw Phoebe's patented puppy dog look out of the side of her eye, she knew she couldn't stay mad at the girl as she sighed.

"Oh, calm down Phoebe, you already know I can't stay mad at you long," Keesha said as she continued towards homeroom with her friend in tow.

Phoebe, however, knowing what Keesha said was to be true, couldn't help but feel relieved. She had enough problems going on in her life, and she did not need a steadfastly angry Keesha to add to her list. They had been friends for a long time, and she knew how the girl could hold a petty grudge or two if you didn't squash the conflict as soon as it began.

"Okay, now, what were you talking about again? Some boy you have a crush on?"

"Ugh, Ralphie, Phoebe, Ralphie! Only the only boy I have liked since sixth grade, come on, if you don't know that then I can no longer call you my best girl friend," Keesha whispered harshly as she looked over at Phoebe with a hurt look.

"Oh, I'm sorry Keesh, I should know this shouldn't I?" Phoebe said in a very hurt voice as she looked away from her friend. A blanket of brown burnt auburn hair shielding her from the hurt in Keesha's eyes.

Somewhere in between third and fifth grade, Phoebe had decided to grow out her long wavy hair, and she had been wearing it long ever since. She had changed a lot since her days of being a student in Miss Frizzle's third grade class, and unlike Arnold, people had started to notice almost immediately.

Gone were her days in her little red frock and mustard yellow undershirt. These days, Phoebe settled for a more eccentric relaxed look with her flowing sheer peach top littered with pink and blue small flowers and birds over a white camisole. The end of her blouse became a tight stretchy like material at the end of her waist that clung to her hips before her dark skinny jeans took over and ended at her nude colored flats. Phoebe was known for wearing her wild and unruly wavy hair down, but today she had decided to put her hair in a low pony tail with some hair left out to make a make shift bang.

Keesha looked at her suddenly reclusive friend, and suddenly felt like there was something the girl had been holding back. A feeling Keesha had felt since the beginning of the summer hadn't had time to get the full effect of until now since she had been so caught up in checking out Australian beaches, and Aussie boys she had only a little amount of time to speak with Phoebe. Now, that Keesha thought about it, maybe she was the one not being a good friend.

"Sigh, Pheebs, what is it? What's wrong, and don't deny that you are upset because its me you are talking to, so you might as well fess up," Keesha said as she stepped in front of the other girl. Phoebe looked down at her feet as she contemplated rather to reveal what she had been thinking. A huge part of her told to hide everything that was going on in her mind when she looked up into Keesha's eyes and realized she wasn't going anywhere unless she gave the girl at least some of the truth.

"Ummm, well, you know how I told you my parents have been fighting a lot recently?" Phoebe asked as she referred back to the conversation the two had had that summer.

"Yeah, so? That's what parent do, they fight." Keesha said as she shrugged.

"Well, my parents have been doing it a lot more often, and the yelling and insults are getting a lot worse," Phoebe said forlornly as she looked up at Keesha to show how desperate she was.

"Keesh,...I think...I think that my parents may be getting a divorce," Phoebe choked out before she heard Keesha's resonant gasp.

"But, b-but, your mom can't do that, your dad is..."

"Blind, yeah, I know, and she knows, and the whole world knows, but they still can't seem to work it out some how! She called him useless Keesh! Right in front of my face, and I still can't get the look of hurt he wore out of my head. She said she is tired of taking care of him, and when she said that it made me scared and I couldn't help but feel guilty," Phoebe said as tears welled up in her eyes as she looked away from her friend.

"Why? Your mom's the one being unreasonable. Why would you feel guilty?" Keesha asked as she placed her hand on Phoebe's shoulder. The girl began to look down at her flat as she spoke the next words in shame.

"Because I am scared that...that if she leaves us...that if she leaves him...I'll be the one who has to stay and take care of him in order to pick up the pieces," Phoebe said as a small sob left her rose colored lips.

"Shhh, shhhh, there, there. It's okay...it's alright," Keesha said as she heard the tardy bell sound as students rushed passed the two of them to get to class. Some looking at Phoebe like she had grown an extra head, and Keesha knew her friend would not be able to make it to homeroom with her face puffy and mascara running.

"Pheebs, how bout me and you ditch first and second period to head out to that new cafe down the street to have a cup of coffee and talk because I can not half my best friend having a nervous break down in class,"

"But Keesha, won't that ruin your perfect attendance record for the beginning of the year. I remember how mad you got at Carlos for drinking out your apple juice without asking you and giving you a cold last year, and you said you promised yourself you would never miss a day of school again since you want to be on the student counsel, and you said that Florrie hates people who miss days," Phoebe said as she sniffled and Keesha cringed as she thought of a sheepish looking Carlos they day he brought her missing homework and homemade Menudo from his mom.

"Oh forget Florrie! She is a bitch anyways, and the only reason she said that to me last year was because Carlos chose Dorothy Ann over her. She was a junior anyways, who know what she ever saw in Carlos," Keesha said as she pictured the Hispanic boy putting on his 'flirting' face to try and get her on the student council only for Dorothy Ann to slap him with her chemistry book, which held over one thousand pages. Now, that brought a giggle to Keesha's lips before she put her arm around Phoebe's shoulders and lead her towards the double doors.

"Besides, Florrie's a senior, and I am a sophomore, so...there is always next year," Keesha said optimistically even though she was whimpering on the inside at the prospect of waiting another year to take control of the school.

0000

**AN: **First chapter! Hope I didn't rush it, but I really wanted to get this chapter out. I know Carlos's joke was so LAME, and I know I didn't really show enough of Ralphie, Dorothy Ann, or Tim , especially him since he didn't even get a mention, but trust me, there is more of them to come. Each one of them has a VERY VERY special role in this story. Pairing may seem obvious, but trust me... all is definitely not as it seems.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Magic School Bus or any of its characters! Though if I did, there would be a Magic School Bus: High School edition with the same awesome characters!

**Summary: **The Magic School Bus kids have grown up and made it into the dog eat dog world of high school. Friendships and attitudes change once hormones become involved.

**Pairings: **Of course I have my personal favorites, which will become more and more apparent as the story unfolds. I will try not to make it too obvious from the get go. That way I can draw you guys in before you guys are like "Nuh! I don't like that pairing!" and it adds suspense.

**Warnings: **There may be teenage pregnancy; I am not sure whom yet. There may be other teenage issues like sex, drugs, and partying. I don't think I will get in too much depth with angst such as rape and what not. I just don't have the heart for it, but who knows!

0000

The smell of grounded coffee beans and freshly made fruit pastries infitrated the air surrounding Phoebe's nostils as her bright emerald eyes stared at the dark depths of her decaf cup of coffee. The aestithics of how the darkness of the black coffee crashed effortlessly against her porcelain cup were not lost to her as she lifted the now luke warm cup to her lips.

"So...?" Came the voice of her best friend, Keesha Franklin, as Phoebe paused her action momentarily before bringing the cup up to her lips and taking a sip of the black coffee. She mentally and physically made a blanched face as the tinkle of Keesha's giggles reached her ears once more.

"Pheebs, I told you not to get the coffee. We both know you hate the stuff, so you should have just stopped trying to seem all mature and stuff and got the hot chocolate like I said," Keesha said with a smug face as she picked up her mango smoothie and gave a small sip as a look of pure bliss crossed her face. When had she started liking mangoes? As far as Phoebe remembered, pineapples had always been Keesha's choice of fruit.

'Maybe it's something she picked up from Australia?' Phoebe thought absentmindedly before she sat down her decaf and looked up into Keesha's dark grey eyes.

"I guess you're right Keesh. It's just that coffee seemed to best display the mood that I am in. You know, feeling forlorn," Phoebe whispered softly as she pushed away the disgusting liquid.

"A smoothie seemed a little too cheerful and relaxed, and hot chocolate only brings about memories of happy times," Phoebe said as she referred to the times when the whole gang would pile into Miss Tennelli's minivan and go down to Mister Earl's diner for a round of marshmellow stuffed hot chocolate.

"And we both know that if I had gotten regular coffee, I would be bouncing of the walls all day, so I guess decaf just seemed like the perfect intermediate at the time," Phoebe voiced with a sigh as she reclined in her chair. Keesha staring at her with narrowed eyes.

"Phoebe, we have been sitting here for fifteen minutes, and have spoken more on why you chose to drink decaf than why we are here in the first place,"Keesha rattled off in an irritated voice as she gave a small huff before reaching over the table slightly and giving Phoebe's shoulder a small squeeze.

"Now, you finally stopped crying long enough to talk in coherent sentences, so you are obligated by the best friend code Section 1011 to tell me what has been going so wrong in your life," Keesha breathed out in one big huff as she softly grabbed Phoebe's face and made her look deep within her grey orbs. Hoping that all the love and comfort her friend needed was locked somewhere behind long lashes, but she was finding it difficult since Phoebe just avoided looking at her.

Phoebe refused to look at Keesha for a few moments as she let her eyes wonder to avoid eye contact, but once she realized how awkward and inappropiate the situation may look from proding eyes, she finally relented and stared back towards her friend. A feeling of small relief touching her heart as Keesha too relaxed before returning to her seat on the other side of the table. Waiting patiently for Phoebe to begin. She, thankfully, didn't have to wait long.

"It...it started, for me atleast, about a week before summer when I overheard my mom and dad discussing some things. Our house had not been feeling much like home for the past few years, but I just took that as an after effect of Thomas going off to college," Phoebe closed her eyes a little as if reliving that day, and she seemed a little unfocused as she looked within her cup once more.

Keesha watched slightly perplexed as Phoebe took the rest of her mug filled with decaf and downed it in two big swallows before she placed the mug back down and slid a little further down in her seat. It was something that was very un-Phoebe-like, but the fact was ignored as the auburn haired girl continued.

"But, from what I could gather from their conversation, whatever had been going on, had been going on for way longer than that. Maybe, before I was even born. I couldn't really make sense of what I heard at first since I had never really heard or seen my parents fight, so I confronted my mom...my mother," Phoebe seemed to be having a bit of difficulty continuing, and Keesha did not know if the poor girl was up to finishing when Phoebe looked back up at her with tear filled emerald orbs and a saddened smile on her face.

"I really shouldn't have done that. I really shouldn't have said anything to...to _h-her _because as soon as she realized I knew...that I was no longer fooled, they stopped trying to hide it."

"All summer, I was forced to listen at them bicker bitterly at each other and insult each other as if they were enemies, as if they were never married, and now, it is starting to take a toll," Phoebe said as she sat up a little and her face contorted in resentment. It looked so foreign on Phoebe's delicate pale features. That was a look that should never be added to Phoebe's repetoire of emotions.

"I hardly ever want to go home these days. Actually, this whole summer I have been bouncing around from Dorothy Ann's to Wanda's house under the guise of friendly sleepovers. Just to get some peace at night from the sounds of arguing. It got to the point that I wished I could go back in time to when you asked me to go to Australia with you this summer, so I could say yes and beg my parent's to let me free of their hell hole," Phoebe whispered harshly as the tears finally began to spring from the captivaty of her eyelashes. The trails were being written across Phoebe's cheeks in mascara, and Keesha felt a slight stab of defeat since she had been the one to have to fix Phoebe's face after the first sob match.

Phoebe, however, seemed not to mind one bit as her face scrunched up into a cute pout as she again avoided eye contact with the mocha skinned girl in front of her, but Keesha was not going to make it easy as she picked up her chair and scooted on the side of Phoebe before snatching up a napkin and dapping at the girl's face.

"There, there, Pheebs, calm down hun, all is not lost," Keesha said as she tried to reason with her friend who just looked at her as if she had grown an extra head.

"What do you mean all is not lost? My parents are going at it every single night and day, and I-I don't know what to do, so if you know something I don't...p-please enlighten me," Phoebe said weakly as she looked up at the other girl for answers.

"Pheebs,...didn't you learn anything from English last year. It was obvious Carlos and Ralphie didn't, but I would expect more from you," Keesha said as she smiled kindly at her friend before whipping her long flowing brown curls over she her shoulder so she could better study Phoebe's facial expressions.

"What is the opposite of love?"

"Huh?" Phoebe asked in a state of confusion.

"Ugh! What is the opposite of love? Remember, from Miss Albert last year, right? What did she say the opposite of love was?"

"Ummm, I don't know...a-apathy?" Phoebe questioned with a bit of uncertainty. Still not sure where this conversation was going.

"Exactly, not hate. The lack of emotion is the opposite of love, not hate, which is the emotional cause of love gone wrong," Keesha said matter of factly as she looked back at her friend to see her looking at her as if she were this extraterristrial come to kill them all and eat out their brains.

"I guess the literal definition is not going to help you, so I guess I am going to have to use examples," Keesha said exasperatedly as she placed her petite hand on her forehead as she felt an oncoming migraine. A look of concetration lay etched on her features for a few minutes and Phoebe started to get a little worried before Keesha's face broke out into a knowing smile.

"Why do I argue with Ralphie?" Keesha asked in an embarassed whisper as her eyes wondered the cafe in search of anyone who may need destroying upon the reveal of her hidden motives. Once her search came up empty handed, her eyes fixed on Phoebe again.

"Because...you like him, and want to get his attention."

"Exactly, why does Dorothy Ann argue with Carlos?" Keesha added for good measure.

"Because she likes him, and she gets jealous."

"Bingo, so why does your mother argue so violently with you dad? It can not be because she does not care because we just established that apathy is the opposite of love, so there has to be another reason. And if you are able to figure out that reason..." Keesha trailed off hoping Phoebe had finally caught on, and she was not disappointed as an expression filled with enlightenment adorned Phoebe's tear stained face.

"I might be able to save their marriage," The young girl practically squealed out in delight before she wrapped her long lanky arms around Keesha's shoulders. Keesha just smiled lovingly and began to pat Phoebe on the back before she caught a glimpse of her watch. If they wanted to make it back to school for the end of second and the beginning of third, they would have to leave now since tardies were pretty much ignored on the first day. There would be a few questions once the rosters were collected, and the office realized that Keesha Frankling and Phoebe Terese had both missed the first two periods before mysteriously appearing for the third, but by that time, Keesha will have worked up the perfect excuse to get them off the hook and out of suspicion.

"Pheebs, hurry, check your schedule and see what you have for third period," Keesha said as she broke away from her friend to dig through her purple knitted hobo sack and peek at her own schedule. Phoebe followed suit as she grabbed her own knitted tan hobo sack and began rummaging to find her schedule.

It was no coincidence that the two girls had two similar bags made out of the material since they had made them for each other at the end of their eigth grade summer. Keesha had made Phoebe's tan hobo sack and took fine care in knitting on the blue bird and the red daisy, Phoebe's favorite flowers, on the front. Phoebe had too taken great care in making Keesha's, but hers was a little less pleasing to the eye since it had a huge yellow pineapple in the middle with three green spikes uprooting from the fruit. She had apologized vehemently when they had given them too each other on the first day of ninth grade, but Keesha assured her that she loved it.

'Maybe not as much now since she is so in love with mangoes,' Phoebe thought dejectedly as her low self esteem resurfaced only to be buried again as she heard Keesha groan.

"Awww, bleugh, I got autoshop next! How about you?" Keesha asked hopefully as she stood from her sit followed by Phoebe who only smiled apologetically.

"Home economics," Phoebe responded back with her voice still carrying some raspiness from the scene before.

"Damn it! How on Earth did this happen to me?" Keesha asked dramatically as she placed the money for her and Phoebe's drink down on the table before heading towards the door. Supposedly, missing when Phoebe slipped her own money for her decaf coffee in the flap of Keesha's knapsack.

"Maybe it is because you got in all AP classes this year and you wanted to have atleast two classes with Ralphie since all of use are required to take PE," Phoebe said with a small slightly forced giggle as Keesha slightly glared at her.

"Oh shut up, and your name just happened to appear on the Home Ec list, not because of Arnold, but because you want to perfect your already nauseously good culinary skills," Keesha said obnoxiously as Phoebe scoffed with a building blush across her freckled cheeks before the two fell into a fit of giggles while walking towards their school, which was only a block or so away.

"Oh, *giggle*, Keesh, I missed you, I hope you know that. I-It was kind of hard this summer without you, and I didn't know if I could get through it. I-I still don't, but...but I think I can live through failing as long as I know that you are going to be there to help me through it," Phoebe said in a slightly somber tone as Keesha's grin faded a little before returning full force as she slung her arm across Phoebe's shoulders.

"Aw, snap freckle speckle."

"Aw, shucks, bubble butt!"

The two fell into laughter again at their lame catch phrases circa fifth grade as they approached the oh so welcoming wide gaping gates of Walkerville High.

0000

Ralphie Tennelli limped half heartedly out of his second period as throngs and throngs of students dispersed from in front of him. He was usually one of the first students to leap out of his uncomfortable seat after fifty minutes of fidgeting while watching the clock like a bad habit, but after running for two hours that morning for early morning practices on an arlready overused leg, his leap had diminished to a small hop that was now out of necessity.

That was the price he had to pay for being one of the first and only freshman to start on the footbal team and he was willing to dish out every penny at the chance to transition into college football then hopefully professional. It had always been a dream of his to play either professional football or baseball. Football being his mother's pick and baseball being one that his father had always favored.

It really did not matter much to him which one came knocking at his door as long as he was obliged the opportunity to live the life of a professional athelete. His father had said it was engrained within him to want to due so since a long line of Tennelli's had strived for the dream, yet utimately failed; however, they could never give it up because they were built for it.

By seventh grade, Ralphie was towering over his friends at a height of six feet even, and by now, he had stopped growing to reach an impressive six foot four and a half. He drastically towered over most of his friends, and the only in their group to even really come close was his best bud Carlos. Though, that was were the comparisons ended between them in physique.

While Carlos was lean with his muscle, Ralphie was just a bit bulky with his. Carlos used sports and cardio to keep himself in shape, and Ralphie found that he was more incline to lift weights and tone what muscle mass he did have. His pudge from elementary had slimmed down and hardened into a sheet of steel that could take the brunt force of several full on hits, and Wanda had even argued that while Carlos was like a hunky Bruce Banner, Ralphie was like a slightly slimmed down version of the Hulk. Ralphie and Carlos had laughed at that, and the gang had even taken to calling the two boys such on occassion.

However, even though Ralphie had taken the joke in stride, he had limited the amount of weights he was working out with after the comment. He wanted to have muscle and whatever, but he did not want to be one of those body builder types that the girls sometimes made fun of whenever they appeared on television, and while he did not consider himself a ladies man, he had had his fair share of girls since seventh grade.

Girls all across the school had proclaimed how they would love to have a piece of the young man with his head full of thick wispy brown bed hair, hazel green puppy eyes, strong manly jaw, pearly white teeth, and a body compared to Hercules, himself. Ralphie was a wanted man all across school, and every girl wanted to wear his green and white letterman jacket even though he had yet to find on who was worthy of it.

Ralphie wore his jacket almost every day, since it symbolized his unrivaled accomplishment of making varsity for the baseball and football team as a freshman, along with boot cut jeans and a pair of black sneaks. His old red hat had been retired many a years ago.

"Argh, matey, hows the peg leg?" Came the undeniable voice of Carlos as he came up from behind Ralphie and slapped him on the back. Ralphie only rolled his eyes at the reference to his limp as he eyed Carlos's attire.

"Dude, where's your jacket? Coach Ewald said he wanted all varsity members on either sport to wear their jackets today. You know, show the freshman our school pride," Ralphie asked as he continued to limp his way down the hall and down the stairs until the two finally reached their autoshop classroom in the basement. He said nothing of Carlos's lack of help. What were friends for?

"Come on, bro, you know green is totally not my color. It completely washes out the color of my skin," Carlos said as he imitated the voice that Ralphie could only guess was Florrie or one of her minions. Ralphie sat down at a three person station as Carlos took a seat to his left.

"Plus, I don't have to listen to anything Ewald says until baseball season comes ticking around. Until then, my loyalties belong completely to that of Coach Santos," Carlos said smugly. His back towards the door.

"What was that Ramon?" Coach Ewald said as he stepped in the classroom, and Ralphie had to struggle to keep in his laughter at Carlos's face of pure horror before a groan escaped him and the boy turned on his stool to face the Coach.

"Nothing Coach, just telling Ralphie here sir about how I wish Coach Santos distributed as much of a will to teach as you sir," Carlos said in a subservient voice as the Coach only continued to glare at him before lifting up his roster from his desk to call out the names of his students.

"Brinkley."

"Here," Came the strong manly reply.

"Colton."

"Here," Another manly voice resonated.

"Dinklehemeir."

"H-here," Was the weak reply the Coach received back as he looked up from his roster.

"What's wrong Dinkle, got to Tinkle?" Carlos said obnoxiously and for once he was not immediately met with responses of ..."Lame!" or..."Really Carlos, dude?".

A few chuckles filtered the room as all the students turned to the nerdy boy in the back corner at a station by himself even though there was sit at Carlos and Ralphie's table and one next to Zapetski and Randolph. Ralphie briefly wondered why the boy was even there if he was not going to participate. Autoshop was based on group effort.

"Shut the hell up!" The Coach felt more than comfortable enough to say since the class was filled with all men, and more than half of them would be playing for him at some point in the year so they knew when to silence their mouths.

The Coach gave a glare once over at all his students before pointedly staring at Carlos and going back to his roster.

"Franklin."

No reply.

"Franklin."

Still no reply.

"Franklin! Franklin! Who the hell is this Franklin?" The Coach looked around the room for a familar face or acknowledgement, but he was only met with mumbles and whispers of confusion.

"Franklin, I don't know a Franklin."

"Nah, me either."

That was only some of the replies Coach Ewald received as Ralphie and Carlos looked at each other suspicously before shrugging their shoulders. The only Franklin they knew would not be caught dead in a class like this, or so they thought.

"Oh well, Griffi..."

"Here, here, Franklin, here, sir," Came the rushed reply as a one Keesha Franklin ran in the room in all her glory.

Keesha's newly found estrogen within the room had completely knocked the room off balance as young men who were once slouching and drooling completely straightened their backs and wiped the slob from their mouths at the prospect of a fellow female classmate.

Keesha stood there and fidgeted for a few moments as she took in how she was almost the complete opposite of the guys within the class. They were all wearing muscle bound shirts, loose jeans, and sneakers while she was looking like the poster child for femininity at that moment.

She was wearing a purple floral dress that hugged her curves for dear life as it stuck close to her long mocha colored legs that seemed to glisten slightly in the florescent light of the basement, which were only accented by her puffy white socks and her brown combat boots. Her boobs were pushed up due to how fitted the top of her dress was and her petite denim jacket did little to hide them.

Keesha noticed how the guys assessed her hungrily before flipping her long brown curls behind her back. A few strands had managed to make their way in to her doe-like grey eyes, and she was unconciously pouting up her lips. Being the center of attention in a room filled raging male hormones did little for Keesha's confidence at the moment. A girl like Florrie probably would have milked the moment for all it was worth, but Keesha just was not that type of girl. She did not like being ogled. Not one bit.

She was reconsidering taking this course because while she wanted to be close to Ralphie, she did not think she would be able to survive a whole semester of boy staring at her in lust while some actually attempted to touch her. She did not think her temper could take it, so she convinced herself that if she could survive fifty minutes in the class, then at the end of the day, she would go to the office and request a transfer.

If she was lucky, they might still have some openings in Home Ec, and if not that, maybe drama? Hopefully, anything but this.

Keesha let her eyes wonder in the slight second it took for Coach Ewald to gather his wits, and she immediately zoomed in on the seat right next to Ralphie at his and Carlos's table. The latter of which was having a humor field day at the scene, and Keesha knew she would not her the end of it for the rest of the year.

"Uhhh, excuse me little lady, but don't you think this class might be a little too...umm,"Coach Ewald searched for the right words, and Ralphie felt a slight feeling of dread build inside him a Carlos almost doubled over a little more in silent laughter.

"Difficult for you,"Ralphie felt an imaginary 'oh shit' leave his lips as the words left the man's mouth. He threw cautious look Keesha's way. Seeing just as he had expected. Shock, denial, anger, shock, surprise, lividness. He and the rest of the guys called it, the evolution of Keesha. If she went through all of those emotions in one succession, she was pissed. No exceptions.

"E-excuse me?" Came her first and Ralphie heard Carlos say a small 'uh oh'. And they both gave a silent prayer for their coach. But this was Keesha. They both knew that she would never step out of line with a teacher. No matter how insulting they could be. Instead stepping line and getting herself in any kind of trouble, she usually just put them in their place, and they would hard pressed to leave that place again.

"I...uhhh...just meant," The coach tried to explain as he saw Keesha's livid yet determined eyes.

"Oh, I know what you meant. I know exactly what you meant, and I have you know that I can read just fine. I saw the words autoshop printed on my schedule, and if I had of thought there was some type of mistake, I would not be here right now,"Keesha laid in on Coach Ewald, and Ralphie could see what was coming.

"What do you think this is? Astrophysics or something? Too difficult, scoff. I have you know I took a semester of calculus my ninth grade year at Walkerville University, and I passed with flying colors. So I _think_ I can handle reading a few instructions off of a manual and putting together what ever the hel...heck this class requires. So whatever you think you know or what you think you meant, I intend to show you other wise because Keesha Franklin is showed up by no man...or machine," Keesha said with a small attitude before she walked confidently over to Ralphie and sat down. Intent on staying in the class now. For more reasons than one.

Coach Ewald spurted slightly as some of guys were still ohhhing and ahhing at the fire works. This was exactly why he hated girls in his classes, so much damn attitude. A guy never gave attitude at him. Never, and he was going to try and see to it that Keio...Franklin never did it again.

"Okay Miss Franklin, you have verbally made your point. Now, I expect you to own up to eveything you just said, or you are not going to make out of this course with a passing grade. I will be watching you Franklin, and you better not disappoint," The man said sternly as he eyed her harshly. Something he would be doing all year until she earned his respect.

"Yes sir," Keesha said with a grin since she thrived in these sort of environments where she was doubted, and set to fail because she loved to prove people wrong. In any situation.

Ralphie on the other hand felt a sense of dread build within him as he ignored the coach calling out the rest of the names, and the conversation Carlos had just started to rile Keesha up again. He was now seated in between the two main targets of all of Coach Ewald's ire, and he hated it.

He was not the type at all to thrive under pressure. Not at all. The more pressure he felt, the more nervous, sweatier, and paranoid he got. That was why he was so good at football because with all the pressure he felt from being a Varsity freshman, it made him so paranoid that he attacked anyone who ever came even a step close to the quarterback. Laying them out with little effort and no remorse. They did not call him 'Steel Toned Tenelli' for nothing.

Ralphie was not looking forward to his semester in autoshop. Between those two, not at all. Between Keesha who hardly knew anything about cars and Carlos who made everything a joke, he was lucky if he got out of that class with his dignity let alone what could have been an easy A to play football.

No Ralphie was not looking forward to this year, not at all.


End file.
